Emails, postcards and letters from all over the world and from people of all ages are continuing to reach the Teheran authorities pleading for clemency for a gay boy whose only sin was that of loving a peer when he was only 13 years old. But the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Head of the Judiciary and the other authorities have totally ignored all our requests, all our entreaties and carried out the most ruthless cruelty in the name of a bloodthirsty God, who is certainly not the God of love that true Muslims worship, but a product of hatred, discrimination and prejudice.

But the Hearts Campaign does not end here. Hundreds of people have taken up pens, crayons and computers, drawn lots of hearts and sent them off with messages such as: “We love Makwan”, “Makwan is innocent”, “Pardon Makwan”. Instead the executioners broke Makwan’s body and took his breath away for ever. But Makwan is now a symbol and symbols cannot die. Makwan’s name will now echo throughout the corners of the world calling out for justice; his symbol will be more powerful than hatred, much greater than death. We wish to create a gallery in the young martyr’s memory, a young man killed by homophobia. We ask you all to send in drawings of hearts dedicated to Makwan’s memory. We will gather them together and they will become the symbol of a way of loving which at the present is bound in chains, but which one day - thanks also to the sacrifice of people like Makwan - will be free and finally be able to “say its name” openly and publicly.

The “Holocaust and Genocide Art” collection springs from a cultural, memorial and educational project aimed at new generations, a project to which the Hilo Art Museum of the Hawaiian Islands (USA) has shown itself to be particularly sensitive. Ted Coombs, the museum’s director...